Stocking footlet and method of



Nov. 2, 1943. H. M. GREY I STOCKING FOOTLET AND METHOD OF MAKING SAMEFiled Dec. 18/1942 7 HUGH M. Q55;

attorneys Patented Nov. 2, 1943 STOCKHWGFOOTLET AND METHOD OF MAKINGSAME Hugh M. Grey, Concord, N. -C., assignor to Concord KnittingCompany, Concord, N. 0., a corporation of North Carolina ApplicationDecember 18, 1942, Serial No. 469,433

12 Claims.

This invention relates to knitted fabrics and more particularly to amethod and means for producing a footlet or stocking foot portion.

It is an object of thisinvention to provide a knitted article such as astocking foot, said article having the same number of wales in the footportion as in the welt portion It is another object of this invention toprovide a seamless stocking foot formed by successively knitting aplurality of courses to form a tubular member with each course havingthe same number of loops therein, then closing one end of the tubularmember, after which the tubular member is stretched and set in shape toconform to the foot of the wearer. i

It is another object of this invention to provide a footlet of theclass. described having a welt portion and a foot portion in which thetension of the knitted loops gradually diminishes as the knittingprogresses from the welt into the foot per-1 tion. By graduallydiminishing the tension, the loops will be larger and consequently, thestretching and enlarging or the lower portion of the footlet to conformto the foot of the wearer, can be more easily accomplished.

It is still anotherv object of this'invention to Some of the objects ofthe invention having stated, other objects will appear as thedescription proceeds when taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawing in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved stockingfootlehafter it has been knitted and seamed, but prior tovthe same beingstretched and; set to conform to the shape of-a wearer's Figure 2 is atransverse sectional view taken along the line 2--2 in Figure 1, showingthe upper portion of the stocking iootlet in .a slightly openedposition;

Figure 3 is a side elevation of thestocking footlet as it appears whendisposed upon the foot of the wearer, said view showing a portion of thewearer's foot in dotted lines; 1

Figure4isatopplanvieworifiigure3;

Figure 5 is a transverse sectional view taken along thelines 5-5inFigures 3 and 4;

Flgure6isaviewotth stockingfootletuit 66' appears after the same hasbeen stretched and set, and then folded into a collapsediposition forPacking, nd shipp Referring' more particularly to the drawing, thenumeral I0 broadly denotes an improved stocking footlet, said footletcomprising a welt portion II and a foot portion l2. The bottom of thefoot portion is closed by seam line It to I thereby provide a knittedarticle for encasing the foot of the wearer. It will be noted that theheel of the foot portion l2 may be reinforced as at l5, and that the toemay be reinforced as at I6. A wearer's foot or a suitable form I! isillustrated in dotted lines in Figure 3 in association with a completedfootlet.

In the production of a stocking of this type. a circular knittingmachine may be employed, however, other types of knitting machines mayalso be used with good results. The disclosed footlet, however, isparticularly adapted to be manufactured on a circular knitting machine,because it is preferablyof a seamless construction. When producing astocking of this type upon a circular knitting machine, the first courseof the welt is begun as at It. This course is then held on half of theneedles and a plurality of courses are knitted'on the other needles in aconventional a conventional way of knitting a welt. The knit I ting ofthe foot portion I2 is then carried out with all of the needl .As, arule, the welt H is of a tight, close knit which is produced by applyinga relatively high tension to the strands of yarn or each course duringknitting. When the foot portion is begun, the tension-on the strand orstrands of yarn gradually diminishes with each course, sothat additionalslack will be presentin the lower foot portion of the stocking footlet.If desired, an additional strand or strands can be placed in what is-tobecome the heel and toe portions l5 and 16 respectively so as toreinforce these areas.

When the foot portion has been knitted to a dotted line position 2! suchas shown in Figure l, the knitted welt and foot portions are removedfrom the knitting machine. At this time, the welt and foot portions areof a tubular construction having open top and bottom ends. In order toform a stocking footlet from this tubular fabric, it has been foundadvantageous to sever .the foot portion of the tubular fabric along aafter the foot portion has been severed, the collapsed tubular memberwill appear substantially as shown in bold lines in Figure 1. It isevident 7 that the wales at the heel of the severed footlet are somewhatshorter than the wales at the toe. Actually, the wale lengths of thetubular fabric, after having been cut as shown in Figure 1. graduallyincrease in length from the heel portion i to the toe portion ii. Thesevered tubular member is next seamed along the line ll, previouslydescribed, to thereby close one end and form a footlet therefrom.

As previously stated, the slack in the loops of the foot portion l2gradually increases from the welt to the seam line I4, and therefore agreater amount of elasticity and stretch can be obtained inthe bottom ofthe footlet-than at the top. When this increased elasticity is coupledwith the increased length of wales at the toe of the foot portion, agreater amount of space will be available at the toe portion when thefootlet is placed upon the foot of the wearer.

The welt and foot portions of the tubular fabric are formed from aplurality of successively knitted courses, with each course having thesame number of loops therein. Therefore, the same number of wales willbe present throughout the fabric. Attention is called to the fact thateach of the wales in the foot portion of the stocking is a continuationof a wale in the welt portion. By gradually decreasing the tension inthe yarn as the knitting progresses and by subsequently cutting the footportion'along a line biased to the wales, it is possible to obtain thedesired space to accommodate a wearer's foot and at the same timemaintain the same number of wales throughout the footlet. Thus. it isseen that a simplified construction is employed which greatlyfacilitates the manufacture of an article of this type.

After the footlet has been severed and seamed as shown in Figure 1, itis usually stretched over a suitable heated form which has substantiallythe same shape as that of the wearer's foot. Then by subjecting thefootlet to a steam and heat treatment, the loops of the stretchedarticle are set so that the footlet will more resemble its shape whenin. use. Figure 6 shows the shape of the footlet after the same has beenstretched over a form and subjected to heat treatment to set the loops.In Figure 6, of course, the footlet is in a collapsed posiflon. that is,the opposed sides thereof are disposed one against the other and in aposition normally occupied when the footlet is ready for packing andshim.

In the drawing and specification, there hasbeensetforthapreferredembodimentofthe invention, and although specificterms are em- P 7 11. they are used in a generic anddescriptive'senseonly,andnot forimrpcs oflimitation, the scope of-theinvention being defined in I claim:

1.Thatmethodofproducingacircularknitstockingfootlethavingatopweltportionand an adjacent foot portion, whichcomprises knittingthccoursesofthetopweltportionwitha an adjacent footportion which comprises forming the courses of the knitted welt topportion with a yarn under relatively high tension, subsequently formingthe courses of the adjacent lower foot portion with a yarnund'ergradually decreasing tension andthen uniting the lower edges of saidfoot portion. V v I 3. That method of producing a circular knit stockingfootlet having a top welt portion and an adjacent foot portion, whichcomprises knitv ting the courses of the top welt'portion with a yarnunder relatively high tension, subsequently knitting the courses of theadjacent lower foot portion with a yarn under-a gradually decreasingingtensionandthenunitingtheloweredgcsofj saidfootportion.

2.'I'hatmethodofproducingacircularknitstockingfootlethavingawelttopportionand tension, then uniting the loweredges of said foot portion, stretching the welt and foot portions to ashape substantially conforming to the foot of a wearer, and then settingthe welt and foot portions while in this stretched position.

4. That method of producing a circular knit stocking iootlet having awelt top portion and an adjacent'foot portion which comprises form,- ingthe courses of the knitted welt top portion with a yarn under relativelyhigh tension," subsequently forming the courses ofthe adjacent Ilowerfoot portion with a yarn'under gradually decreasingtension, thenuniting the lower edges of said foot portion, stretchingthe welt andfoot portionto a shape substantially conforming to the foot of a wearer,and then setting the welt and foot portions while in this position.

5. That method of-produeing a circular knit stocking footlet having atopwelt portion and an adjacent foot portion, which comprises knittingthe courses of the top welt portion with a yarn under relatively hightension, subsequently knitting the courses of the adjacent lower footportion with a yarn under a graduallydecreasing tension, severing thefoot a line disposed at an angle to the courses whereby a greater numberof course lengths will he present at one end of the foot portlonthanatthe, other, and thenunlting the lower edges of said 7 foot portion.

6. That method of producinga ammmt be present at one end'oi thefootportlon than attheother,andthenunitingthelowercdgcsofsaidfootportion.

7. That method of producing a circular knit stocking footlet having atopwelt portion and an adjacent foot portion which comprises forming thecourses of the knitted welt top portion with a yarn under relativelyhigh tension, subsequently forming the courses of the adjacent lowerfoot portion with a yarn under gradually decreasing tension, severingthe foot portion along a line disposed at an angle to the courseswhereby a greater number of course lengths will be present at one end ofthe foot portion than at the other, then uniting the lower edges of saidfoot portion, stretching the welt and foot portion to a shapesubstantially conforming to the foot of a wearer, and then setting thewelt and foot portions while in this stretched position.

9. A stocking footlet comprising a seamless knitted welt portion and anadjacent seamless knitted foot portion exclusively formed irom'thecontinuation of the wales of the welt portion, the lower edges of thefoot portion being united along a line biased to the wales to therebyclose said tubular foot portion and to provide wales of a greater lengthat the toe portion than at the heel portion of the footlet.

10. A stocking footlet comprising a knitted welt portion, and anadjacent enlarged knitted foot portion exclusively formed from thecontinuation of the wales of the welt portion, the

wales of said i'ootlet gradually increasing in length from the heel tothe toe,

11. A stocking footlet comprising a. knitted welt portion, and anadjacent enlarged knitted foot portion exclusively formed from thecontinuation of the wales of the welt portion, the tension 01 the loopsin said wales gradually decreasing in the direction of the lower edge ofthe foot portion.

3 12. A stocking footlet' comprising a seamless knitted welt portion andan adjacent seamless knitted toot portion exclusively formed from thecontinuation of the wales of the welt portion, the lower edges oi thefoot portion being united along a line biased to the wales to therebyclose said tubular toot portion and to provide wales of a greater lengthat the toe portion than at the heel portion of the footlet, the tensionof the loops in said wales gradually decreasing in the direction of thelower edge of the foot portion.

HUGH M. GREY.

